A Score & A Decade

Chapter 3

She was seated inside a bright, sunny room on a very soft, grey couch. The room was full of furniture, but not too full to the point of suffocation. She had placed her case file on the glass tea-table in front of her and had her hands folded on her lap.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Louise Rodney asked, trying to fill in the heavy silence.

"No, thank you," Zoe replied.

"Please do, I insist." The woman pushed.

Knowing that they would keep going back and forth, arguing, and also really wanting to get to the topic of Roselle, she obliged with a slight nod of her head. The woman nodded and bustled off. A minute later, she was back with two cups of tea. Giving one to Zoe, she settled down with her own cup and began drinking.

A few moments later, "So. You said you would help me find my daughter." she said, setting down her cup.

Zoe nodded, "A friend of mine introduced me to the case and I want to try my hand at solving it." she said.

The woman nodded and was silent for a moment. Then, "So this is all a game to you then? 'Try my hand at it'?" she said roughly.

Zoe immediately realized that her choice of words had been poor.

"No, of course not! I'm sorry, but that came out wrong. I meant that I want to help you. I really do."

The woman picked up her teacup, "The last time the case was open, it was 28 years ago. They looked for two years before they declared the case cold and told us that..." she stopped and took a deep breath, and then took a sip of tea.

"What did the police tell you?" Zoe egged on.

"They told us to give up hope. They said that it was very unlikely that Rosie was still alive at that point." Here, her voice turned thick and she looked away. Zoe felt sorry for the poor woman.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Rodney. I'm going to say something and I hope you don't take offence to it - while it is likely that your daughter might be dead, none of the evidence points toward her death. Of course, it is logical to believe that after 30 years, she would be dead, but I don't believe so. There is still a possibility that a woman is out there, waiting to be found." Zoe said, as gently as she could be while still sounding firm.

Mrs Rodney looked at her with tear-filled eyes, "You think you can find my baby girl? Now? After all these years?"

"I will try to give it my best."

Mrs Rodney looked to be on the verge of tears. She made an excuse of hearing the doorbell and hurried off, though Zoe knew that she needed a moment to collect herself.

She was back in a few minutes. She sat down and said, "Do it. Please help me find my daughter."

Zoe nodded, "Thank you. I hope you don't mind me asking, but where is your husband? Maybe you should talk to him first about this?"

"My husband died a few years ago. Cardiac Arrest." Mrs Rodney said.

"I'm very sorry," Zoe said. She couldn't imagine losing all the family she ever had. She knew from the case file that Eric and Louise Rodney hadn't had any more children after Roselle. Too much pain after losing their first-born, Zoe guessed. Sitting up straighter, she said:

"I will now officially start my investigation now that I have your permission, Mrs Rodney. But first, I need you to tell me everything that happened. And by everything, I mean everything. No lies, just the clear truth as you know it. Now, shall we get started?"